Settled Souls
by ohmytheon
Summary: Capable bites her lip, considering her words, but then lets them spill out of her anyways. Now that she's able to ask questions, she can't seem to stop herself. "Did you ever wonder why Adina settled in that form?" (A scene from Mad Max: Fury Road, but with daemons.)


Author's Notes: So I started basically rewriting scenes from the movie, but with daemons and I'm having a blast, but it's a slow going process since I really want to do justice to the movie. In the meantime, I started writing little drabbles to work with the daemons. I've got them all picked out, but this one focuses on just Capable and Nux.

capable - sharp-shinned hawk - hartwin: means "brave friend"  
nux - ornate box turtle - adina: means "delicate, gentle"

Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine.

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 **Settled Souls**

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Capable isn't looking up at the stars in the clear night sky so much as watching the black hawk shape glide silently in the air above her. It has been years since she last saw Hartwin fly. Back in the Citadel, his wings had been clipped, so that he couldn't even escape Immortan Joe's grasp. Capable still shudders when she thinks of the man's grip on Hartwin and her daemon's trill cries, the feeling so alien and disgusting that it was almost impossible to wash away.

"You alright?" Nux asks beside her, giving her something of a wary and concerned look. He still doesn't know how to feel about the way she curls around him in their spot together, how her body seems to mold against his in ways that his wasn't made to do. He was made to kill, to fight, to die. But what is between them is none of that. "Are you…are you comfortable?"

Capable smiles tiredly at him and leans her head against his shoulder. "Just cold. I didn't realize how cold it got out here at night." She presses herself against him further as he readjusts the blanket so that her shoulders aren't exposed. He's so careful with her. She wonders if he's ever been careful with himself or if he's always pushed himself to the brink of death. She supposes that he's never thought of it as death, only as the end to a cycle.

War Boys' cycles are so short, their daemons always tired and ragged. Adina peeks out from his side, but says nothing, just searches the sky until she too catches sight of Hartwin. Hers is the only daemon in the group that can fly and the only one of the Wives' that will go further than a few feet from her. Capable has always been secretly proud of the distance she and Hartwin can manage, if only because it grated on Joe's nerves when he couldn't get to him. Her heart nearly burst the first time Hartwin was able to fly out here on the Fury Road. She had forgotten what it felt like to feel so free.

"Did you ever wonder…?" Capable closes her mouth. No, that isn't the right question. It's a bit rude too, and she doesn't want to come off as rude to the boy that has helped save her freedom even though he was supposed to end it. Still, she can't help but be curious.

Nux tilts his head at her. "Wonder what?" He shrugs his shoulders. "I…I've never really wondered much of anything, to be honest."

Capable bites her lip, considering her words, but then lets them spill out of her anyways. Now that she's able to ask questions, she can't seem to stop herself. "Did you ever wonder why Adina settled in that form?"

"Oh." Nux actually manages to flush a little, his near white cheeks turning a bit pink in the dying light of their hidey hole. Adina nearly hides her head in her shell, but he wiggles a bit and picks her up easily, holding her against his chest. She's small, but mostly a dome dark brown shell flecked with yellow designs, with little legs and black eyes. Capable thinks she's adorable, partially because she's never seen a turtle daemon before, especially not in a War Boy. "I wanted her to be a cheetah."

"Woulda never fit in the car," Adina sniffs, trying to sink into her shell even further. Nux gives her something of a flustered look, but doesn't say anything. They've probably had this argument a hundred times. All War Boys' daemons seem to be either some type of fast animal or a savage-looking beast. All carnivores, all hungry and ready to hunt, a lot of them scavengers willing to bite the heads off another daemon if they get in the way. They're not bred to last long, these War Boys or their daemons, so it's more than a bit odd that Nux's daemon is so…durable.

"I was embarrassed by her for a long time," Nux admits in almost a whisper. Even Adina turns her head away from him. Capable doesn't have to see the look in her eyes to know how much this stings her.

Hartwin lands on top of their little place and hops onto Capable's outstretched arm, carefully making his way to her shoulder so that he doesn't scratch her with his talons. She can't imagine ever being embarrassed by him, no matter how small he is compared to most hawk daemons. She has only ever loved him and wanted him to be whatever he wanted to be.

"I think you're perfect, Adina," Capable says, ignoring the taboo of speaking to another person's daemon. She's glad for it, catching the almost hopeful gleam in the turtle daemon's eyes. Nux looks almost relieved. She imagines that he was the target of a lot of torture and mockery over his Adina.

When she snuggles up against Nux again as silence lulls between them, Hartwin presses into the side of her head and Nux allows Adina to sit in his lap, just inches away from her fingers. Capable can't help but smile as they all look up at the stars. Tomorrow may be the end of her freedom or the beginning, but for now, the comfort of all their protective bodies against her is all that matters.

 _Feels like home,_ Hartwin murmurs in her head.

Yes, for the first time as far as Capable can remember, it feels like home.


End file.
